The Arvada City Council voted to roll the city’s nearly $8 million bond into 2026 to potentially help create large-scale affordable housing amidst shortages throughout the region.

The council met with the city’s Housing Manager Carrie Espinosa on Tuesday to discuss how the city should move forward with the 2025 Private Activity Bond, ultimately voting 4-1 to combine it with next year’s funds.

Arvada received $7.9 million of private activity bonds from the State of Colorado Department of Local Affairs for 2025, with the intention to use the bonds to support private or public developers in making an affordable housing project.

According to the request for proposal, affordable was defined as housing costs that are less than 30% of gross income for households earning below 80% of the area median income.

The city did not receive a single application for the bond.

The bond will now stack with next year’s, allowing for a larger amount of tax-exempt bonds to be given to developers. 

Espinosa said there are developers interested, despite the lack of applications.

Councilmember Sharon Davis, who voted “yes” on the rollover, said that the stacking of funds could help larger projects get off the ground next cycle, instead of smaller ones in the present.

“I don’t think it’s a missed opportunity,” she said of not using the funds this year. “I think this is something that will play out nicely into the future. We will get some much needed housing here in Arvada.”

Councilmember John Marriott, on the other hand, was the single “no” vote, saying that it would be wasteful to lose the opportunity of funds for a full year because no developers applied. The money, instead, should be given to regional housing authorities because “housing is a regional issue. It’s not an Arvada issue. I’m certain there would be housing authorities that would desire to have these and put them to good use.”

The spotlight around the need for affordable housing in the city comes on the heels of an Aug. 19 council study session in which councilmembers discussed the 2025 Regional Housing Needs Assessment by the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG).  

In the study, DRCOG said that 48.8% of Arvada renters in 2022 faced severe housing burden, meaning their rent was more than 50% of their monthly income.

The report also indicated that Arvada would require 4,990 new housing units by 2032, with 3,000 of those needing to be aimed at households earning between 0 to 50% of the area’s median income.

“Arvada is a suburban community. I would submit that most people who live in Arvada would prefer it stay a suburban community,” Marriott said during the presentation, adding that Arvada doesn’t need to directly adhere to DRCOG’s study due to the difference in each city. 

“My recommendation would be that we do not use this,” he said of the study. “The residents of Arvada have something to say about this.”

Under the 2024 Senate Bill 24-174 regarding affordable housing assistance, the city is not required to submit a Housing Action Plan (HAP) to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) until 2028.

Still, with the bond, the city will look to move forward with an affordable housing project next year.